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News

Three WCC Tennis Teams Selected to Compete at NCAA Championships

May 4, 2010

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - The fields for the 64-team NCAA Tennis Championships were announced today, and the Pepperdine men and Saint Mary's and Pepperdine women were chosen to compete in this year's tournament.

Dates of competition for the men are May 14-16 and the women are May 14-15. Official dates and times for both Pepperdine teams are still TBD.

The #21 Pepperdine men (16-10), who won their 20th consecutive West Coast Conference title, will face #37 Hawaii (12-7), the Western Athletic Conference champion, in the first round at Stanford's Taube Tennis Center. With a win, the Waves would move on to face either #7 Stanford (18-5) or Quinnipiac (10-4) in the second round.

The Pepperdine men are making their 21st consecutive NCAA postseason appearance (13 straight not including regionals) and could see some familiar competition. The Waves are being sent to Palo Alto for the second straight year. Last season, the Waves defeated California in the first round but lost to Stanford in the second round. In 2008, the Waves defeated Hawaii and Stanford in Malibu in the first and second rounds. That's the only time the Waves and Warriors have met in NCAA competition. Pepperdine also won the 2006 national championship in Palo Alto.

On the women's side, the Saint Mary's women's tennis team will face No. 23 Arizona State on Friday, May 14 at 10:00 a.m. at UCLA. No. 38 Saint Mary's (17-6) earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, its first appearance in program history, after clinching the West Coast Conference Championship title on April 25.

The Gaels and Arizona State (13-5) played each other earlier in the season, but the match was cancelled due to rain in the Phoenix area. The winner of the SMC versus ASU game will play the winner of the Army (20-9) versus UCLA (19-3) in Los Angeles.

The #43 Pepperdine women (12-13), who were selected as an at-large team after finishing as the runner-up at the WCC Championships, will meet #31 SMU (23-4). The Mustangs were the top seed at the Conference USA Tournament but lost in the semifinals. A win would put the Waves into the second round against either #8 Stanford (20-1) or Fairfield (19-5).

The Pepperdine women were on the bubble heading into the announcement and may have been one of the last at-large teams taken. They are making their 23rd consecutive NCAA postseason appearance (14 straight not including regionals). The Waves lost in the first round against Texas last year, ending a streak of seven straight years with a first-round victory. Pepperdine and SMU have never met in the NCAA Tournament before, and last faced each other in 2009 with the Mustangs posting a 5-2 road victory.

The fields for the NCAA singles and doubles tournaments will be announced on Wednesday. The NCAA Championships will be held May 20-31 in Athens, Ga.